Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stock Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 30.0% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $314,000. Ervin Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Ervin Investment Management LLC now owns 92,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $96,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.86.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded down $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,200,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,330,449. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $66.60.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 43.84%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) is a diversified financial services company that operates primarily through its investment banking and capital markets subsidiary, Jefferies LLC. The company provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and other corporate transactions, along with equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, research, and prime brokerage services.

Jefferies also manages and invests capital through asset management and merchant banking activities.